title: How do public health practitioners in China perceive injury prevention? A survey.
abstract: To report public health practitioners' perceptions of injury prevention in Changsha, China. We undertook a cross-sectional study at Changsha, Hunan, China. An anonymous self-reported survey was conducted to ascertain the proportion of respondents who answered negatively to questions about the value of injury prevention. Over 20% of respondents answered 'unpreventable' or 'don't know' to whether injuries from natural environmental disaster, homicide/assault, poisoning, animal bite, cut/pierce, suffocation and electric current were preventable. More than 40% of respondents answered 'no' or 'don't know' to whether the prevention of injuries from homicide/assault, cut/pierce, fall, suicide/self-harm, drowning, road traffic crash and fire/burn belonged to the job of public health. Only 48% of respondents supported building a division/office within the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions at all levels. Many public health practitioners in Changsha had misperception about injury prevention. Education and training are needed to correct their misperception.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Aichun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: XiaoTao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg of School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004190:Disasters / Q000517:prevention & control; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D011634:Public Health; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*